Environmental regulations promulgated by government in addition to economic reality have forced mineral producers to recycle water employed in mining and mineral processing operations. Unfortunately, even the most diligent efforts cannot consistently remove all particulates from the liquid flow stream. As a result, mineral aggregate washing systems have been plagued with nozzle clogging problems.
Numerous nozzle designs have been developed in the past to obviate such problems. Nevertheless, individual handling of each nozzle by a human operator has been required to clean a blocked nozzle orifice of unwanted debris. Over time, such designs have proved to be extremely inefficient.
The need has arisen for a nozzle not susceptible to being clogged by particulate matter suspended in the fluid passing through it. Additionally, the nozzle must have the capability of readily allowing the removal of clogging particulates without human intervention. Finally, this nozzle must be capable of being securely mounted to a fluid header system capable of delivering large fluid volumes through a series of like nozzles mounted side-by-side. Such a device would prove to be of benefit to the mineral industry.